Oneworld Classic Flight Reward Discussion - The Definitive Thread

[vetrade]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

You almost got my name right

Well, it is late Friday afternoon and I'm trying to keep an eye on 3 computer screens at the same time. But it's an error I won't make again.

 

[blacknwhite]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi,I am new to this forum and love reading all the posts and hoping that you guys can help me!
My husband and I are planning using our points to do RTW business(280,000 each) next year but much as I am a travel buff I am having trouble understanding 16segments but only 5 stopovers.
Can you please explain this for me?We are planning MELB-TOKYO-LONDON-MONTREAL and then cities in North America(perhaps new York,Las Vegas,Memphis at this stage) and then South America(Lima and Buenos Aires) and then back to MELB.Time of travel possibly July to September 2016.

 

[vetrade]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi,I am new to this forum and love reading all the posts and hoping that you guys can help me!
My husband and I are planning using our points to do RTW business(280,000 each) next year but much as I am a travel buff I am having trouble understanding 16segments but only 5 stopovers.
Can you please explain this for me?We are planning MELB-TOKYO-LONDON-MONTREAL and then cities in North America(perhaps new York,Las Vegas,Memphis at this stage) and then South America(Lima and Buenos Aires) and then back to MELB.Time of travel possibly July to September 2016.

Hi Blacknwhite, welcome to AFF.
The "16 segments" refers to how many individual flights you are allowed to have on a OneWorld RTW award. A stopover is any place in which you spend more than 24 hours, whereas a transit is where you fly on to your next destination within less than 24 hours. In other words transits are just places you pass through on your way to a stopover. Note that you don't have to necessarily connect to your next flight on the same date - you could, as a random example, arrive in Tokyo (Narita Airport - NRT) from MEL at say 3.00pm one day and it would count as a transit provided you departed NRT before 3.00pm the next day.

The OW award allows for a maximum of 5 stopovers; you can not have more than one stopover in any individual city and you can also have no more than 2 transits through that city (or any other city).

From the route you mentioned I'm guessing that you were hoping to stop in more than 5 cities - in which case the only way you could achieve this and stay within the OW rules would be to book some flights (pay cash or points) separately to your award ticket. For example, if you wanted to spend time in both Montreal and NY that would ordinarily count as 2 stopovers but if you bought a separate ticket (or even went by rail or car) between them it would count as a single stopover.

Maybe post some details of your intended route and/or which cities you want to stop in and someone will chime in with suggestions as to how "do-able" it is.

 

[blacknwhite]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Dear Vetrade
Thankyou so much for your prompt reply and thank you for explaining to me.I now understand!!
I will,as you have suggested,post my intended cities and get your much valued opinion.
Am I correct to assume to say that I can put segments and stops on the same ticket?
As some of the OW award seats have not be released(FOR AUG/SEP)I have been told to book what is avaible for the sectors I want and when the others are released,then have them put together on one e ticket(28,000K and app $1000 taxes each),am I correct?I read somewhere the taxes depend on the countries you go to(LHR the dearest).
Looking forward to being able to work with you.Thanks again

 

[vetrade]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Dear Vetrade
Thankyou so much for your prompt reply and thank you for explaining to me.I now understand!!
I will,as you have suggested,post my intended cities and get your much valued opinion.
Am I correct to assume to say that I can put segments and stops on the same ticket?
As some of the OW award seats have not be released(FOR AUG/SEP)I have been told to book what is avaible for the sectors I want and when the others are released,then have them put together on one e ticket(28,000K and app $1000 taxes each),am I correct?I read somewhere the taxes depend on the countries you go to(LHR the dearest).
Looking forward to being able to work with you.Thanks again

You haven't quite got your head around it yet, blacknwhite. Suggest you read through the most recent 4 or 5 pages (at least) of this thread - the discussion covers a fair bit of what you seem to be confused about. With regard to your query about segments (flights) and stops being on the same ticket, your ticket, naturally, only has your flight details on it i.e flight number, date, time etc. Of course the stops will be obvious from the dates and times of arrival and departure - it can't be any other way.

Nearly everybody needs to book their flights as they are released - to not do so risks missing out, especially for business class. You then add or amend your flights on the same booking. You can not book flights on different booking numbers and then merge them later. When you call to make additions you tell the operator your booking number and get them to add the extra flights to that booking.

Taxes vary for different airlines and according to distance etc. Some airlines charge more for fuel surcharges than others etc. London is a specific case because if your flight departs from there you have to pay an airport departure tax which is 300-400 dollars. Once again the details of that were discussed in this thread recently. Suggest you find a few hours to read as much of this thread as possible, otherwise it all becomes very repetitive.

 

[blacknwhite]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi Vetrade
Yes you are right-I am having trouble and I will read ALL this thread
Thanks so much You have already made it easier Cheers

 

[JohnM]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi Vetrade
Yes you are right-I am having trouble and I will read ALL this thread
Thanks so much You have already made it easier Cheers

It does take a while to get your head around this stuff - we've all been through it, so don't fret.

Soon you will be answering the questions!

 

[whatmeworry]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Lots of info on this thread. Perhaps we need a flow chart or a simplified diagrams or something (FAQs) on how to book at the start of the thread.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Lots of info on this thread. Perhaps we need a flow chart or a simplified diagrams or something (FAQs) on how to book at the start of the thread.

Some simplified guide is needed.
2,528 posts is just too much for most people to read to find what they need to know.

 

[Cynicor]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Some simplified guide is needed.
2,528 posts is just too much for most people to read to find what they need to know.

Dunno. I read the whole lifemiles thread when I wanted to get started. You only need to read the last 5-10 pages of 40pp to get the hang of them anyway. If you still have questions at least you don't look like a leech after it ("you" being a general term and not a specific poster).

With regards to the 16 segment limit, this is a Oneworld limit, possibly IATA. Oddly, it is the opposite of a holdover from paper tickets, when 20 segments were allowed on the xONEx. Since Etickets everything has dropped to a 16 seg maximum.

 

[Nizar]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Dunno. I read the whole lifemiles thread when I wanted to get started. You only need to read the last 5-10 pages of 40pp to get the hang of them anyway. If you still have questions at least you don't look like a leech after it ("you" being a general term and not a specific poster).

Same. As well as the entire FT thread. As well as any other info I could find on the net from blogs, etc.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Well I really envy the amount of free time you two have.
However the fact that two people chose to read all 2531 posts doesn't mean it's a convenient or even a useable way to present the information for everyone.

 

[dumdidum]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi guys

Quick question, I am travelling on a oneworld award but might have to change the last leg due to an unfortunate injury. I am starting the trip in Sydney, is it possible to fly from Taiwan - Hong Kong - Melbourne - Sydney to get back home on the last leg of the trip? Or does this break the rules somehow as I am "overshooting" the origin point.

Thanks

 

[Cynicor]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Well I really envy the amount of free time you two have.
However the fact that two people chose to read all 2531 posts doesn't mean it's a convenient or even a useable way to present the information for everyone.

I doubt you have less free time than I, we both have the same hours in a week, it's priorities. Like I say, you only have to read the last few pages to get an idea, the same questions are repeated over and over. It comes down to- what is the point of the forum and this thread? People can read the QF page if they want to learn the basics. There may be something they can pay for in the guide section of AFF if they want to learn a bit more for nothing. If you want the benefit of member's experience on a site like this, then generally you need to put a little effort in. Considering most posts are fluff and re-hash, it probably takes no more than 2 hours to read the entire thread.

Why not put together the basics of a wiki/sticky page and others (or mods) can edit it if you feel it should be done?

 

[Cynicor]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Hi guys

Quick question, I am travelling on a oneworld award but might have to change the last leg due to an unfortunate injury. I am starting the trip in Sydney, is it possible to fly from Taiwan - Hong Kong - Melbourne - Sydney to get back home on the last leg of the trip? Or does this break the rules somehow as I am "overshooting" the origin point.

Thanks

That's fine and within the rules, depending on the what the rest of your trip looks like, and if it fulfils the mileage limits.

 

[Nizar]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Well I really envy the amount of free time you two have.
However the fact that two people chose to read all 2531 posts doesn't mean it's a convenient or even a useable way to present the information for everyone.

Well I can't speak for Cycinor but I can assure you I don't have an enviable amount of free time. I am actually very busy and even busier back in 2013 when I was learning all the basics. How did I pull it off ?

It's called prioritisation. It was important to me at the time so I sacrificed leisure/sleep/weekends/etc whatever was needed in order to free myself up to spend time researching.

Sometimes you just gotta put in the hard yards. If you want to have an intimate and detailed understanding of how this stuff (or anything) works then there aren't any short cuts.

 

[Nizar]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Cycinor !
I swear I didn't read your reply before I posted mine but look how similar our replies are.
I guess it's true then - great minds do think alike :mrgreen:

 

[esseeeayeenn]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

Srsly?
Srsly!

 

[Kangol]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

With regards to the 16 segment limit, this is a Oneworld limit, possibly IATA. Oddly, it is the opposite of a holdover from paper tickets, when 20 segments were allowed on the xONEx. Since Etickets everything has dropped to a 16 seg maximum.

Thanks, interesting to know!

 

[JohnM]

re: "oneworld" award (140K/280K/420K) Planning - The Definitive Thread

With regards to the 16 segment limit, this is a Oneworld limit, possibly IATA. Oddly, it is the opposite of a holdover from paper tickets, when 20 segments were allowed on the xONEx. Since Etickets everything has dropped to a 16 seg maximum.

Don't remind me of the good old days! As someone who has being doing an annual xONEX for a decade or more, the change from 20 to 16 sectors was not welcome! My understanding is that it was just a result of the mandating of e-tickets. At the same time a lot of free allowable ground open jaws in cities with two major airports (eg. London/Gatwick) also closed off:evil:.

With 20 sectors I could easily get 2100 SC to get Partner Gold (the only bonus offering back then.) 16 made that impossible and then, to make it worse, they upped the limit for Additional Benefits to 2400 SC.

In the final year of 20 sectors, I did an AONEx to go out on a high. I still look to get around 1600 (SF)SC from a DONEx, so retaining WP is a doddle.